Hamshire-Fannett boys basketball team thinking playoffs

Since Joey Nguyen started playing basketball at Hamshire-Fannett in 2007, making the playoffs hasn’t even been an afterthought.

Until now, that is.

The Longhorns are 11-9 heading into Friday’s District 21-3A opener against Orangefield, and if you ask Nguyen, the team’s 5-foot-6 senior point guard and team captain, this is the year H-F can make its first playoff appearance since 2000.

“That’s our No. 1 goal as of now,” Nguyen said. “Since I’ve been in high school, making the playoffs hasn’t even been close to the question. That’s something we’re trying to do this year. Me as a senior, I want to do that with it being my last year playing high school ball. We put it in everyone’s mind at the beginning of the season and that let everyone know that’s a goal for us.”

It helps, of course, that the team’s chemistry has recently improved. A players-only meeting last week addressed team problems and has led to better communication and continuity among the players.

“We had a problem about arguing with each other and not admitting to our mistakes,” Nguyen said. “That’s what I confronted in the meeting. If you have a mistake on the court you need to say, ‘It’s my fault.’ It gives the other player an ease of mind. That’s what we have been doing.”

If problems were to exist, Nguyen said that pre-district was the perfect time.

“Coach always told me he didn’t want the players to jell before district because he’s seen a lot of teams in his past that would play really good at the beginning of the season and then come district time just kind of fall apart,” Nguyen said. “It’s good for us to develop that type of team chemistry right at the start so we won’t lose that.”

The Longhorns are in a district with state-ranked opponents Hardin-Jefferson and Silsbee. But they aren’t intimidated. Ten H-F players are listed at six feet or taller, including 6-foot-5 forwards Cameron Malveaux and Geoffrey Martin.

Against fast-paced and aggressive teams such as Silsbee, H-J and West Orange-Stark, the Longhorns will have to maintain their patient tempo.

“If they hit us with the press we’re going to have to depend on the press break, getting the ball over halfcourt and just slowing down the game,” Nguyen said. “Athleticism-wise, Silsbee has us beat. We have to depend on slowing the ball down and playing our game instead of playing their game.”

Of course, getting one of the district’s three playoff spots doesn’t necessarily depend on beating the two top teams, H-J and Silsbee. The Longhorns just need to beat out the other three — WO-S, Orangefield and Bridge City.

“We’re just now getting to the point where we can compete,” H-F coach Colby Richards said. “We’d have good teams in the past but we would have injuries and things like that. This year we’ve got so many numbers that we can overcome the injuries.”